Toby follows the story of an estranged man with violent abilities and suffering from mutism who vows to transform himself for his foster daughter. Will the society allow him to change? The story here is cerebral and gut-wrenching with not a single silver lining provided to the protagonist. It is dark and almost equated through multiple frames centering around animals and the Goddess of Death, Maari. But at its core, it is a heartfelt drama that gently tugs the string of your heart before tactfully breaking it piece by piece. The screenplay standing at a little under 150 minutes that make for a rather compelling viewing that coaxes the viewers to indulge in the drama that provides no respite to the protagonist. It is dark, harsh and quite gut-wrenching. 

I was reading a couple of negative reviews about the film with respect to the expectation that folks had around Toby. Now I can’t speak for others, but the thing that helped me was that I knew nothing about the film before venturing in it having previous not even watched its trailer. As a result, every beat of the film felt different while allowing me to invest in the character of the protagonist that unfolds like a mystery. The format of the narrative is the sudden disappearance of the protagonist followed by a group of individuals narrative their thoughts about the protagonist and what he meant to them, through a series of flashbacks. What this did was allow the viewers sufficient time to form an opinion about an individual who was mute to begin with, and found little to no acceptance in the society that he did reside in. 

Of late, there has been a lot of discussion around the toxic masculinity of an alpha male who is often equated to also being a misogynist. Yet in Toby, the scenario is completely opposite. You see a supposed toxic personality transform in the wake of a little girl that he acknowledges as his foster daughter. So his ability to adapt and put aside his alpha male image(in terms of his violent past) in order to be more caring and comforting to his daughter was so refreshing to watch. The flip side of the coin also was his foster daughter transitioning from someone dependent on him to virtually playing a vital role in being his caretaker at a later timeline. These contrasting emotions are wonderfully showcased. Yet, the dreams of the protagonist(of wanting to marry and lead a peaceful life) along with his ambitions of building a home for himself, are often used as tools to cage him further by the society. 

What I really enjoyed in the narrative was the screenplay unfolding through a series of frames, with each frame representing a section of the society as viewed through the hierarchy of politics. For instance, the sheep were representative of the people who were powerless and had no say on the politics of the land that was essentially ruled by a pack of ‘wolves'(another clever reference). The imagery of the Goddess Of Death, Maari was also representative of the symbol of power wherein through the lines, we are told that no one can randomly wear her nose-ring but her. At the same time, the contrasting imagery of destruction ensues at the end wherein the protagonist does transform himself into a killing machine after having lost everything dear to him. So essentially, the character of the protagonist could be equated as a dog who only longed for love and care, who in turn would reciprocate his loyalty to ‘his’ people. The only difference being that ‘his’ ambitions and loyalty were often exploited amidst the rising politics of the land leading to tragedy. Yes, the final act could have been a little better staged but that doesn’t take away from the journey of the protagonist that is without a silver lining in it, thus summing up a wonderfully penned screenplay.